On the day my Dad died, the flight I was supposed to take to his funeral in Lagos was delayed and was eventually cancelled. I tried to purchase another ticket but was told the flight was full. I was beside myself with grief. A man who had a ticket on the full flight noticed.

https://twitter.com/Zainab__Balogun/status/1798251719962579261

He asked me what was wrong and I told him I lost my Dad that morning and had to go to Lagos for his funeral. Man expressed his condolences and handed me his ticket. He refused to take the money I had on me for the ticket and walked me through security screening.

What's up youngbloods? For those of you who weren't born or weren't old enough to remember what it was like under military rule, the images you witnessed or videos you saw online of policemen assaulting and shooting unarmed protesters is sort of how things were back in the day. Surprised? It may interest you to know that democracy wasn't always our system. Oh, I remember eloquent speeches by Gani Fawehinmi, Tai Solarin & Anthony Enahoro of blessed memory. I remember how the military government would promise elections to calm the people down.

Sometime in 2008/2009 I went to Lagos to appear before the Federal High Court. After the court sitting I went to the registrar's office to submit an application for a copy of the judge's order. Seated there were a lady and her son who looked to be about 5 years old. She was there at the registrar's behest to seek a judge's intervention in the release of her husband who was being held at Ikoyi prison after a simple and harmless dispute with a neighbor who had promised to use his connections in the police force to deal with him.

I left the house at 6am before the kids woke up so that I could catch the 1st train back to Abuja. While I was in transit my wife called. The kids had woken up & wanted to speak to me. I apologized to them for leaving without saying goodbye. I didn't want to wake them. While I was speaking to them, a gentleman sitting in the opposite seat had this incredulous look on his face. When I was done with my call, he asked if it was my kids I was speaking to. I answered in the affirmative. Then he asked if it was them I was apologizing to. I said Yes.

One of my lifelong goals is to share knowledge with as many people as possible. In the last few years I have done so by sharing information about science, technology, history & philosophy. I have also embarked on a mission to get as many people as possible to take up reading. I have done this by recommending highly acclaimed books on various subjects, bookstores where these books can be bought and have even gone as far as buying some of these books for numerous individuals, all in a bid to spread the love of reading & knowledge.

Months ago I tweeted about plans to start visiting schools so as to talk to the kids about the importance of peace & the dangers of conflict. As part of my research I visited a high school in Sinkor, Liberia to see how/if they talk about the civil war in their curriculum. Fortunately, when I visited a high school off Tubman Boulevard, I was lucky to meet with the head of the school and we had a discussion about the civil war and how they talk about it to their students.

In 2008 I was a pimply faced lawyer fresh out of law school. I went to the Federal High Court for a matter. While waiting for the court to sit, another lawyer and I began chatting. On and on we rambled about different things: how young lawyers were underpaid, court procedures, the bar exams, etc. This was sometime in March, which was close to the end of the period for the payment of practicing fees. He asked if I had paid my practicing fees and I said I hadn't. Unbeknownst to me, this dude was the adverse counsel in the matter I had come to attend.

I have lived in this country my entire life. I've never been away for more than a few months. Wherever I go, this is home. Therefore it's safe to say I know Nigerians like the back of my hand. One thing I know for sure is that there is a problem with our quality of reasoning. I don't know where this deficiency in reasoning and thought comes from or how as a people, we became infected by it but it is pervasive & widespread & it has no restrictions in terms of age, gender, social status or educational background. It's everywhere.

A few weeks ago I tweeted about how I was pleased that a pharmaceutical company in the US state of Oklahoma had been ordered to pay $572 million in damages for its role in fuelling the opioid crisis. Yesterday a friend of mine expressed dissent with the judgment. His reason was that the pharmaceutical companies didn't coerce users into buying, so the judgment was too harsh. He likened it to suing Yahuza Suya for gaining weight after consuming it nonstop. His words may sound insensitive but forgive his ignorance.

Today I saw one of the most massive bouncers I have ever seen in my life. That guy was not born. He was constructed! I had an IV for the event but my heart was skipping beats as I approached the entrance. As I walked towards the entrance I noticed I was alone. I was like: "There is no way I am walking up to that guy alone to show him my IV. His magnificence is too much for me. I need to join a group to approach him. So I loitered around, looking at the sky, admiring the sun & tying my shoe lace, despite not wearing shoes with laces.

Are you one of those people who think because they're Hausa and they are Muslims, that somehow gives them greater right to Islam or makes them act and feel like they are better Muslims than others, this thread is for you. I have a friend with whom I went to university, who had an annoyingly nasty habit of acting, speaking & regarding Muslims from other ethnic groups in a condescending manner. It didn't matter how many times I admonished him or scolded him about it he wouldn't stop.

CPR TIPS PART ONE: Good morning ladies & gentlemen. Following yesterday's tweet about how my Dad taught me CPR & how it came in handy years later, there have been numerous requests to share the information & teach how to administer same. I have decided to share the knowledge. In the interest of full disclosure however, I would like to state that I am not a healthcare professional. While I was taught CPR by my father who was a healthcare professional, there are limits to how written words can adequately convey such an intricate life saving skill.

In 1998 my Dad taught me how to administer CPR. At the time I hated every bit of it cos he wasn't giving me surface lessons. It was a full intensive course that involved learning all the 7 steps of CPR: positioning the hand, interlocking fingers, giving chest compressions, Opening the airway, watching the chest rise and fall repeating chest compressions and rescue breaths. Every time I got one step wrong we would start over and he would scold me and say "This is a matter of life and death. This could come in handy one day. It could save a life."

Of the numerous blessings I am grateful for, the one that will rank near the top of the list is the fact that I had the opportunity to live & grow up in environments that afforded me the opportunity to mix closely with individuals from various ethnic & religious backgrounds. Dad was in the army so a large part of our childhood was punctuated by constantly moving to various locations, starting school, making new friends, moving again, starting new schools & making new friends all over again.